The ASUS ZenFone 2 Review
by Brandon Chester on May 26, 2015 8:00 AM ESTWiFi Performance
While 802.11ac is still very much a cutting edge WiFi technology with limited adoption, it's rapidly becoming a necessity in the smartphone space just to remain competitive with the specifications of other manufacturers. Because of this, both the $199 and $299 models of the ZenFone 2 sport 1x1 802.11ac WiFi. It's funny to see this included in such an inexpensive smartphone when it's left out of $700 laptops like the ASUS UX305.
The ZenFone 2 uses Broadcom's BCM4339 WiFi + BT4.0 module. A single spatial stream 802.11ac implementation means that it's limited to a maximum speed of 433Mbps. To see how fast the ZenFone 2 can send UDP packets I've run it through our standard iPerf test for mobile devices.
Theoretical maximum speeds are rarely able to be achieved in real world testing due to interference, distance, and other factors. 293Mbps is pretty good for a 1x1 802.11ac implementation on a phone, and much better than some other inexpensive devices like the Lumia 735 which only support 802.11n. 802.11ac isn't very widely adopted yet among consumers and so I don't think ZenFone 2 users will be disappointed in their WiFi performance now or in the future.
GNSS
Thanks to a tip from a reader, I can confirm that the ZenFone 2 uses Broadcom's BCM4753. This is different from most devices which use the GNSS solution built into Qualcomm's Gobi modems. Despite this, I didn't notice any issues with the accuracy or speed of the GNSS implementation on the ZenFone 2. With GPS assistance data cleared and the device in airplane mode I was able to achieve a 3D fix in around 55 seconds. This will obviously vary depending on weather conditions, the positions of satellites, and various other factors. With GPS assistance info getting a lock took less than five seconds.
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aungmyokhing - Friday, September 4, 2015 - link
Zenfone2 have Touch Screen Error. I bought last 3 months. Now appear that Error. Now I can't use my phone. Very stupid condition!aungmyokhing - Friday, September 4, 2015 - link
My phone have no damage. No cracked. That error was appear automatically.aungmyokhing - Friday, September 4, 2015 - link
I used Zenfone 2 ZE551ML. My phone serial number is F4AZFG02X506.aungmyokhing - Friday, September 4, 2015 - link
Zenfone 2 have the so many errors. That shouldn't for use.Lyte - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
I recently bought the Zenfone 2 4GB RAM 64 GB model, and I could say the battery life sucks. One time it lasted for only about 4 hours on minimal use, and Ive already uninstalled and/or disabled the apps which aren't very useful and are just battery drainers. Any suggestions on how I can improve it's batterly life? Also I came from a Galaxy J7, and I could say the display is subpar to that of the super AMOLED 1280x720 display of the J7.Mike0902 - Wednesday, June 8, 2016 - link
I bought the same model as you and have to agree that the battery life is a known problem with this phone. I could probably make it through the day just so long as I don't play power hungry games at anytime. When I bought this phone it seems people were blaming the OS saying it was a known problem with Android 5 and there would be an update to 5.1 which should improve the battery life. As yet after 8 long months no update has been received even though Asus have sent out other updates during that time. From what I can gather now is that Asus are planning to skip 5.1 and go straight to Android 6.0. I shall only believe it when I see it especially with the broken promises of 5.1. I did a test to see exactly what was eating the battery and first off did a test by turning everything off using 'flight mode', increasing the brightness to maximum and keeping the screen on continuously to see how long it lasted before the battery gave out. It stayed on for an incredible 8 hours before the battery cried enough. It clearly isn't the screen that is responsible and I now run my phone on 75% brightness whereas before I was dimming it in the belief if would make the battery last longer. I have Sonic Dash installed on my phone which is a known power hungry game but I can play that for as long as my Nokia 1520 which is surprising as I was expecting the battery to plummet as soon as I started playing. Even saved videos play at full brightness without a massive battery drain so just what is causing the battery life to be so crap when in normal use? I have 2 SIM cards installed with SIM 1 using 4G and that is known to be power hungry but the biggest fall of all is when you start to use the internet through Google Chrome. The battery literally goes into freefall and will drop at a rate of approximately 1% every minute so a full charge would give you less than 2 hours of web surfing which is abysmal compared with other phones, therefore it seems the biggest eater of power is that Intel 2.3GHz processor. I can have an hours calling time using 4G and only use 10% of the battery but anything that uses the internet, which is just about every app installed, has to be refused permission to auto start and run in the background eating up the power. You can deny virtually all the apps from starting using the Auto Start Manager and I have also found it helps to run Clean Master at regular intervals to close down apps that have been used and get rid of junk files that build up. It's not strictly the answer but it does help and it does make the battery last longer and just about sees me through a day. With regard to the promised upgrade to Android 6.0, I wouldn't hold your breath on that one, I shall only believe it when I see it.Mike0902 - Wednesday, June 8, 2016 - link
Just as an after thought, if you only want to use your phone for calling and texting through the day go into the settings and turn off mobile data. No app can drain power then.